Blue Card Diaries
by Izumi Ryu
Summary: As the Dramon have declared a holy war on the Digital World, V-mon defects and while on the run, winds up in the human world. With Digimon starting to realize in New York, it's only a matter of time for the Dramon's Holy War to reach other side of the human world. Coincides with Lord Archive's Red D-Arc Diaries.
1. This Can't Be Real

Two blue serpentine dragons soared above the silent forest, their red wings rustling the leaves of the forest below. Their skull heads scanned the area as if searching for something, their legless bodies waving lazily. While the forest seemed silent as if it were abandoned, the trees hid a variety of creatures, waiting for the dragons to pass them by, among them, a blue humanoid reptile with a gold V emblazoned on its head sat motionless with its tail drooped over the branch he was sitting on and watching the dragons pass. He looked like he was no bigger than a human toddler.

As the dragons passed out of sight, the lizard sighed in relief. For once, he thought he could relax for a change, the leaves surrounding him masking his presence well, at least from the two dragons. He suddenly noticed something and immediately grabbed the branch and swung down to where he was hanging from it, as a green spiral of fire rushed right past him. He looked up to see a pink bird that wasn't much bigger than he was perched on a nearby branch, looking visibly angry at him. "Leave or die, Dragon!"

"Tough choice..." the lizard muttered, as he started swinging. He suddenly let go of the branch as he launched towards the bird, kicking it square in the head and knocking it off its branch. The lizard then grabbed it around the neck with one arm and wrapped his legs around the bird's, punching it in the torso and causing it to fall even faster. The lizard let go upon impact with the ground, rolling away from the battered bird.

"Why...you..." it said, trying to push itself up.

"Piyomon, if you had left me alone, I would have eventually been on my way, but instead, you decided to try and kill me. I didn't do anything to you," the lizard said as he stood up under his own power.

"All you damned dragons are the same. You don't care about anyone other than yourselves and your stupid god. You deserve to die," Piyomon spat out, struggling to get up, using its wings as if they were arms for leverage. Then, he looked at the lizard and glared, and the lizard tensed, preparing for what was about to happen. "Magical..."

"V-mon Head!" the lizard suddenly launched towards the bird head first. He slammed into Piyomon with his forehead, shooting it at the tree trunk behind the bird. The bird dispersed into data where V-mon stood under it, absorbing what he could of the data into himself. As he did so, he heard voices coming from different places. They sounded either fearful of finding out a dragon was hiding among them, or angry that that dragon had killed one of their own. V-mon became more wary of his surroundings, then turned and bolted into the brush.

* * *

Blue Card Diaries  
Entry 01: This Can't Be Real  
Author: Izumi Ryu  
Tamers Diaries Concept: Lord Archive  
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to TOEI animation.

* * *

The silence of the forest was disturbed as V-mon burst out of some brush and broke into a full sprint, fear showing in his eyes as he ran faster than he thought possible. Branches crumbled as a large insectoid creature resembling a green praying mantis gave chase hovering above the ground, its arms replaced for scythes. Red markings covered its face, but made you wonder how it could see without eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?" V-mon asked himself, not interrupting his run. With Snimon closing in on him. All he knew was that at any moment, he was going to be the bug's lunch.

A shriek of pain cut through the air, causing V-mon to stop and look at his pursuer. Masses of needles now impaled the insectoid, before the body simply blew apart into data particles. The small dragon started to panic as he looked around, trying to find which way he should run. Then he noticed the light being blocked in a circular pattern around him as two shadows surrounded him. V-mon slowly turned his head, knowing exactly who it was before he saw them.

"Interesting finding you here," one of the dragons spoke. V-mon glared up at them, hatred starting to overcome his fear.

"What do you want?" V-mon asked.

"We're just fulfilling our duty to your father and the Digimon no Kami. No need to be alarmed, you'll be home with your family soon," the second Airdramon told him.

"I don't WANT to go back!" V-mon yelled back. "That place is no home of mine! And they are NOT family!"

V-mon suddenly dove towards the left as a needle missed his right leg by less than an inch. The Airdramon glared down at the child. "You DARE speak of your father like that? Being away from home for so long has spoiled you. You know he will punish you for such disrespect."

"Like I care! How can I respect someone that would brutally murder one of his own?!" V-mon swore he could see their eyes gleam with realization upon telling them this, anger starting to show in their eyes..

The Airdramon growled harshly. The youth may be impressionable, but they still had no right to speak like that. "That wench was no longer one of us when she evolved. She was handed down a proper judgment. Why do you sympathize with the whore?"

V-mon's pent up anger had reached a breaking point. He wanted so badly to attack them despite its futility. He couldn't stop thinking about how they had just degraded his sister. However, the two Airdramon about them decided what they had seen and heard was enough. V-mon's sympathy for the impure was enough to warrant a death sentence. The Airdramon reared back ready to hand down V-mon's judgment.

Without warning, one of the Airdramon erupted into flames before dispersing into data. V-mon stared up in surprise to see one of them dead. The second Airdramon turned to look at the source of the attack. "You!" the Airdramon called out. The ground trembled as a large orange foot slammed into the ground in front of V-mon. The child digimon slowly looked up, seeing the blue stripes that had wrapped around the dinosaur's back. The brown head looked menacing enough with three horns protruding from it.

Several questions ran through V-mon's head as he watched the spectacle. Greymon were respected even though they weren't true dragons by the cult. So why did he just attack the Airdramon?

The remaining Airdramon looked even angrier, as if a 'lowly' beast had just destroyed his friend. "Just because the Digimon no Kami allows your trash doesn't give you right to…"

"You talk too much," Greymon told the dragon. "And I don't care."

"Learn your place, dinosaur!" Airdramon called out, as he fired off another barrage of needles at the dinosaur. Greymon wasn't very fast and unable to move away in time to avoid getting hit…not that it mattered. The needles just bounced off of Greymon's tough hide, leaving Airdramon in shock. "How? You should be…"

"Not so tough without your pal, are you?" Greymon asked, flames starting to form once again in his mouth. "It's you who needs to learn _your_ place." Greymon reared his head back so he could spit the fireball at its fastest speed. The Airdramon, too shocked by Greymon's display of power, he didn't think much as the fireball struck, obliterating him on impact.

With both Airdramon gone, V-mon still didn't relax as he looked up at his savior. If this Greymon was attacking other Dramon, he might be safe. But considering who V-mon's father was, the child digimon knew better.

Greymon looked down at the child digimon he saved. However, the smell on V-mon seemed to add more to the dinosaur's agitation. "Ummm...Thanks?" V-mon asked, not so sure if he was safe with Greymon glaring down at him.

"_His_ brat," Greymon muttered. V-mon tensed at the fact that this Greymon recognized him, for the wrong reason no less. "I don't like killing small fry, but you're an exception."

"I'm outta here," V-mon remarked as he made a mad dash away from Greymon, another fireball impacting the ground where V-mon had just been standing. The ground trembled in a steady tempo as Greymon chased after him. V-mon only cursed his luck as he broke through some brush and found himself at the forest's end, entering a vast plain. Having run out of places to hide, V-mon desperately looked around for some sort of escape.

The trembling from Greymon's feet stopped. V-mon ignored it as he sprinted ahead. Then, he saw something coming toward him that made him run faster. Acting like some sort of tornado, a pink streak running towards the sky moved towards V-mon. While he didn't know where it would lead him, he knew the data stream ahead of him was his escape. Without a second thought, V-mon launched himself forward into the stream before vanishing from within it.

When V-mon got out of the warp, he found himself in a place like nothing he had seen before. The world around him was now nothing more than black space with thin green lines in a grid. Not wanting to get caught by whatever creature that could possibly live here, V-mon walked forward in hopes of finding some kind of shelter, even if he had to walk for miles. He just wanted desperately to get away from anything that wanted to kill him. Upon that thought, the world around him slowly brightened into a blinding white.

V-mon couldn't tell when, but the terrain below his feet became a hard, flat surface that reminded him of rocks, yet it was too smooth. The brightness began to dim as if a fog was lifting around him. The shadow of a figure became more visible, making V-mon tense. He had too many attempts on his life to trust anything, and he was starting to get tired of running. It came down to his life or theirs. As the last of the fog dispersed, V-mon charged towards the figure, a human boy that stood about two feet taller than him, staring at him with wide eyes.

The boy held up his hands in surprise, saying "Whoa!" V-mon ignored him and launched forward head-first. The boy backed up without paying attention to where he was moving. He suddenly dropped backwards at the wrong moment, sending V-mon flying over him as he hit the roof hard.

V-mon skidded across the roof and bounced up as he hit it. As he was looking down, he saw the hard surface drop sharply like a flat cliff with the ground several feet below. He suddenly reached out and grabbed the edge out of panic as his body fell down and hit the wall.

V-mon cursed his luck, now at the mercy of his new assailant. It wouldn't take much for the attacker to let him plummet to his death. Part of him wanted to let go of the edge, but his instincts wouldn't allow him to. Then, the child digimon felt something grab him by one of his arms. "Hang on," a voice told him as the hand slowly pulled him up. V-mon looked up to see the boy he had attacked looking down at him in honest concern, something he had never seen before.

The moment V-mon felt his foot brush the edge, he pushed off with it and tackled the human onto the ground, pinning him down by the shoulders. The boy cringed as the back of his head slammed against the roof. "Why did you save me?!" V-mon demanded as he stared down at the boy. "You could have killed me easily!"

"Why on earth would I do something like that?" the human asked with a groan as he opened his eyes, looking up at the Child level digimon. V-mon was even more confused as the boy looked at him in confusion, rather than in anger or hatred.

"What's going on? Where am I?" V-mon asked as he stood up and got off of the boy. He rushed towards the edge and looked out from it, seeing masses of buildings like the one he realized he was standing on. Down below, several box-like machines rushed past, while several humans walked by along each side of where those machines were traveling.

The human sat up as he rubbed his head. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he stood up. That was when V-mon's attention turned toward a steel stairwell. V-mon rushed towards the stairs, leaving the human behind yelling, "Hey, wait!" He ignored the boy as he rushed down the stairs. Once he got to the second floor, he jumped onto the rail and over into one of the few trees in the area. After grabbing onto a branch, he dropped himself onto the ground and landed within the crowd, where hardly any humans paid him any notice, more attentive to their own daily lives. He quickly got lost in the crowd, unsure of what laid ahead of him in this strange place.

* * *

David looked down the side of the building as the reptilian creature vanished into the crowd on the sidewalk. No hope to catching up, he simply waited for the crowd to clear to see he was gone. David sighed as he got up, his head starting to ache from hitting the roof. The boy just rubbed a head at his forehead, reminding himself to take some headache medicine before he ran errands.

The boy walked into the stairwell entry leading into the main hall to the various apartments below. Finally finding his floor, he rushed into the apartment and barely paid any attention to the room around him as he rushed towards the bathroom. He swung open the medicine cabinet and grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen, popping a pill into his mouth and taking a gulp of water to swallow it. The room was dim with a couple of lightbulbs out. David shook his head, wishing the apartment management would fix those sockets already.

Walking out into the room, you saw minimal decorations throughout the living room, just some old family photos David wished his father would just get rid of. The smiling faces reminded David how much better things were before, something he'd rather forget just to make the present easier to deal with.

David wasn't ungrateful for his life. His father did well enough to put a roof over their heads. The father even put in a game system in the room, hooked up to the TV. His father got it for him just to make up for what they've gone through. David rarely touched it, figuring his father was simply trying to replace the irreplaceable. The apartment was clean but only because the boy kept it that way. The place was almost always empty of people, and his father rarely ever stayed here for more than sleep.

David walked over to the dinner table where a list of groceries and other items was left, as well as a small stack of money. David read the list, ignoring the letter telling him to 'keep the change' and 'enjoy the summer.' He just pocketed the cash and the list and made a mental note of places he'd need to stop at to pick up what they needed. He wanted to wait a bit for the medicine to kick in, but his stomach growled in protest of that decision. He didn't need to look in the pantry to know it was almost bare.

David sighed as he pocketed the money and the list, giving into the demands of his stomach. He walked out the door, locking it behind him. He trudged down the inner stairwell of the apartment building and walked out the door, blending into the crowd. While he wanted to plan the trip to the different places he needed to go, he first scanned around him for a restaurant or food stand of some kind. The rising temperatures in the city as well as the large amount of kids that seemed to be mixed in with the crowd signaled the summer season in New York. Something David hadn't looked forward to in years.

He noticed a group of people walking into a small Italian restaurant as he rounded the corner. It seemed promising enough, sometimes smaller family restaurants provided better food anyway. He walked towards the entrance and saw the lunch special on the board. David's stomach growled with approval.

"Are you waiting on someone?" a young female voice asked. David spun to look at the Host station, surprised to see a girl that looked about his own age, dressed in the restaurant's uniform with a name badge pinned to her apron on the left side. Reading the name "Jessa" on the tag, he couldn't help but think this girl looked familiar, even the name.

"No, I'm on my own. Thanks," David finally responded.

"Right this way, please," Jessa motioned. She seemed cordial enough, but David could see in the way she held herself that it wasn't quite sincere. It was like she didn't want to be here. David didn't blame her. If this weren't some kind of family restaurant, she shouldn't be working at all, let alone here. "A waiter will be with you shortly, can I get you a drink?"

"Do you have root beer?" David asked without looking at a menu for the drinks.

"Yes, we do. I'll be back with it," Jessa said with what David thought was a forced smile.

He watched Jessa walk behind the counter to get the drink. She was approached by a middle aged woman, and David couldn't help but watch as a small argument seemed to have started. David started to realize with dread who this family was. Jessa was someone he knew in passing both in school and in his apartment. She lived somewhere above his apartment and would often hear her and her mother arguing. The yelling was muffled through the floor, but he knew it usually ended with the slamming of a door.

The woman took the drink from her after Jessa filled it and marched towards David's table. "I'm so sorry. It's her first day and…"

"I can't say I know much about working at a restaurant but she did fine by me," David told her. David didn't like the way this woman sounded, talking down on the girl as if she couldn't do anything right.

The woman seemed perturbed for a moment before she said, "Of course. Did you want to order something to eat?"

David ordered his meal, waiting on it, he couldn't help but watch the spectacle between this woman and Jessa. The food was great, but he didn't like the atmosphere this family provided. He half expected for Jessa to act up, but not her mother.

When he left, he left a regular tip for the waitress. Then, as he passed the station, David slipped a five in front of Jessa on the host table. Jessa looked surprised but he told Jessa, "Don't let your mother have this," David winked as he left. As good as the place was, with the family acting up like it did in front of him, he didn't want to go back there again. Then again, he considered going back just one more time to aggravate the mother.

As David left the restaurant, he swore he caught a glimpse of a flash of light blue. He jerked his head to look down an alley, but found nothing there. David just shook it off and continued down the street to the first store he needed to go to.

* * *

V-mon sat in the shadows as David walked into another store, eating a hot dog he took from a vendor cart. There was something different about the boy that had earned his interest, especially among other humans. Even though he followed David from place to place, he quickly noticed how the smaller, younger humans were never truly alone. If they weren't already with a much larger and older human, they were in groups of other humans their own size.

David on the other hand, stuck by himself. Sure he talked with others, but those were short exchanges, as David exchanged small pieces of paper for much larger items, including food. As the sun started to go down, David suddenly carried everything into the building they first met. V-mon figured he must have lived here like he's seen some digimon settled in their villages and caves.

V-mon opted to climb up the outside of the building. Finding the fire escape, He climbed up a nearby tree before jumping onto it. He remembered seeing David climb up the stairs inside, so he started jumping and climbing window ledge to window ledge, trying to find him. On the third story, he peeked in an open window and saw David put away the last item he bought.

David looked at the window, seeing V-mon standing there. "Oh, you came back," David said. "Come on in."

V-mon tentatively climbed down into the apartment. "I'm gonna be making dinner soon, so feel free to rest."

"Why are you alone?" V-mon asked. "Don't you have a family or parents of some kind?"

"I do," David said. "My father's busy all the time, either that or he's drinking at some bar most nights to avoid coming home." David sighed at this. "And my mother, the less said about her, the better."

V-mon partly understood, not wanting to talk about his family, too.

"Why all the interest?" David asked.

"I've been watching you. You don't behave like other humans your age," V-mon said. "You always seem to be alone."

"I'm used to it," David told him. "I barely even notice anymore."

V-mon walked up to him, seeing how honest and sad David really seemed at this. He felt that this shouldn't be happening, not with anyone, let alone this boy. "Do you mind if I…"

"Stay here?" David asked. "I'm fine with that I'll even leave my bedroom window open in case you want to leave for any reason."

"You don't have to do that," V-mon told him.

"Actually, yes. It's getting hotter this time of year and we need to cool off as much as we can," David told him. "It saves on the AC anyway."

V-mon nodded, not understanding fully what he was being told. He shared a meal the boy cooked throughout the evening. V-mon started to feel more relaxed. He attacked this boy and the boy saved him, he owed the boy more than just the accompaniment. However, David felt more relaxed with even just that.

As the sky turned darker, both David and V-mon started to yawn at the same time. "I'm going to get some sleep for tomorrow," David said, leaving some excess money and a note telling his father of the change. "C'mon. You can sleep with me tonight."

As David entered a room with just a single bed and a chest of drawers, David started to take off clothing, a peculiar behavior to V-mon. As promised, David opened the bedroom window so V-mon could leave if he ever wanted to. At that, David climbed under the sheets, leaving the comforter hanging down so he could remain cool. V-mon crawled onto the bed with him. He didn't know what to do in this world, but had a feeling staying with this boy would help him find something.

When the dawn's light filled the room the next morning, David would find V-mon still sleeping peacefully next to him. David felt relieved that he could spend time with someone that actually wanted to be with him. While David didn't know what to expect with the digimon, he knew that he could look forward to a little more eventful summer.


	2. For Better And For Worse

The city's tall buildings make New York a scenic world from the outside. Tourists visit the various canyons of buildings all lined up, usually to shop and do business within them. However, those that manage to get a good enough view can enjoy one of the most complex arrangements of buildings man has ever made. Only single structures like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty that overlooks the city, remain more majestic than the city itself.

However, those same tall buildings tend to hide things that no one, tourist or resident, would ever want to see. It's not abnormal for the most gruesome crimes to the most petty of indiscretions. For each crime that's caught, one also goes unnoticed. The city has several surveillance cameras across it, but even they can't catch everything, nor react in time to the disturbance.

In one of these alleys, a boy slammed down hard into the pavement. Several more boys stood over him, laughing at just how pathetic he looked. "What do you want?" the fallen boy asked, picking up his glasses from where they fell onto the ground. In comparison to the young boy, the boys looked like hulks. The third one towered over the first two, apparently older than them.

"JR, think he's had enough?" the oldest one said, his face showing he was hoping that answer was 'no'.

"Nah, Adam. He can take a few more licks. Keep him in his place. We know you miss this kind of thing," the one next to him said.

Adam shook his head. "The real fun one is Brad, but he's too chicken shit to come out of his own home right now."

"I remember him. Goth looking guy, obsessed with some chick that disappeared years ago? That guy's still around?" JR asked.

"Yeah, and he hasn't changed," Adam told them. "More fun for us when you guys get to high school. "

"Hey, guys," A fourth voice that hadn't been noticed before. The boys turned around looking at David. Not necessarily an imposing figure, but enough to warrant their attention. "There something interesting going on over there?"

"How much did you see?" Adam demanded, glaring at the potential witness.

"See what? I didn't see anything," David defended weakly, only now realizing Stan had been attacked. He took a step back, holding his arms up in defense.

"Don't fuck with me," Adam said, rearing a fist back as he was about to slam it down into the boy.

At that moment, something rushed out and ran through the bully's legs, forcing him to stumble. David caught Adam before he hit the ground. "Woah, you okay, man? You suddenly tripped there." Just great, V-mon was going to get him killed.

Adam looked confused before glaring angrily. "You tripped me up! Didn't you?!" he demanded, standing straight up.

"What are you talking about? You tripped and nearly knocked me down," David returned, praying V-mon didn't do anything to piss the bully off any more.

"Like Hell I..." Adam was interrupted as he suddenly hit the pavement.

JR and Evan looked down at Adam, not sure what was going on, but Adam believed David did that intentionally. That was good enough for them. The two bullies stormed towards him only for something to rush underneath them as well, landing head first into the ground.

David just looked down not letting himself smirk at the scene V-mon just created. "You guys are all trippin'. I'd rather be around Stan over there than you the rate things are going," he said, walking over the boys. He stepped on a hand, causing Adam to cry out in pain. He stumbled forward in surprise and kicked JR in the head as he tripped forward, barely standing up. A smirk escaped his lips as he got his own little revenge on them. "Sorry, guys, but you're all rubbing off on me. C'mon, Stan. We better get outta here before their clumsiness becomes a plague."

Stan looked up at David in total disbelief at what he just saw. He stood up as David helped him. He continued walking away and making sure he was out of earshot of the boys behind him. "Your digimon, where did he go?"

"My what?" David asked, pure confusion showing on his face. Stan looked like he wanted to push further, only to be stopped by the honest look in his eyes.

"I think he's talking about me," V-mon said from above them, sitting on a light fixture. "It's what all of my kind are called."

"No way! A real life V-mon?" Stan asked.

"In the flesh," V-mon said, suddenly dropping down onto the ground and looking up the two. "Hey, David. I really like this guy. Can we keep him?"

"He's got his own family, V-mon," David said. "So...someone mind explaining what I've been missing for the past week or so?"

Stan shook his head. "You hang out with a V-mon and you don't know anything? Man, if you got nothing to do, you should come with me. I've got something to show you."

"Sure, guess we got nothing better to do. You okay with that, V-mon?" David asked.

V-mon smirked at this. "Sure, this should be interesting…"

* * *

Blue Card Diaries  
Entry 02: For Better And For Worse  
Author: Izumi Ryu  
Tamers Diaries Concept: Lord Archive  
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to TOEI animation.

* * *

David was trying not to facepalm at what he was watching on screen. He sat in Stan's bedroom with V-mon; much of the room was filled with various anime figures and scrolls. What he was watching on TV made him shake his head in disbelief. This story was about several kids getting washed up by a random tidal wave at summer camp and ending up in another world filled with Digimon, the same type of creature V-mon said he was. David wanted to moan at the concept. Though, considering what he experienced a week or so ago on his own roof, he thought he'd better give the writers a benefit of a doubt. He wondered why Stan followed such an old show that was obviously geared towards elementary school kids in the first place.

David glanced over at the room's other occupants. V-mon watched on both in amusement and nostalgia. The world the show portrayed, it was his home, or at least something like his home. Stan seemed distracted with some cards in hand for some collectible game it looked like. He just shook his head and turned his attention back to the show just as he saw the kids plummet off a piece of broken earth into the water below.

Between the episodes, David finally asked, "What are you messing with?"

Stan looked up. "Just tossing a deck together you might find interesting."

"Don't even know how to play. Never got those games really," David admitted.

"They can be fun, and this one is a little easier than most. I'll show you in a moment," Stan told him, shuffling the deck before taking another one out. "In fact, I'm done. Here," Stan handed David the deck. When David looked at it, the first card he saw was V-mon's. He couldn't understand what any of the stats meant on the card, but he couldn't help but think the picture was fitting.

"Wow, nice shot of me," V-mon spoke up, glancing at the card while leaning over David's shoulder.

"So, what were you expecting me to do?" David asked, flipping through the cards, which showed various other creatures, all of them seem related to either V-mon or the other forms down the line.

"I'll show you how to play. Strategy is relatively simple with this, but there are still a few rules to go over," Stan told him.

David just nodded then found a holofoil card that was almost nothing but blue. No text appeared on it, but there was an image of a pixilated D and what looked like a dinosaur or dragon stepping out of it. "Okay, what is this for?"

V-mon remained silent, not quite sure what the card was, but something about it seemed familiar. Stan was confused. "I know I didn't put that in there. In fact, I don't remember having a card like that." Stan tossed him a small device, which looked like a small calculator with a slot along the side. "Swipe it through that slot. It'll give us a reading on it."

David caught it and looked at it for a while. He carefully slid the card through the slot before it flashed random numbers on the small LCD screen. David didn't think much of it, thinking that was supposed to happen. Then a flash of light came from it. All three of the room's occupants covered their eyes in reaction. However, David felt the device in his hand change shape, become larger and somewhat rounder.

When David looked at the device in his hand, he saw a white oblong device, slightly ridged out. A square LCD screen in the middle was surrounded by a navy blue ring. A strap of the same color hung onto it. "What the Hell?" he asked.

"No way, is that some kind of…digivice?" Stan asked.

"This is way too big to be that little trinket," David told him.

Stan shook his head. "There are different models to match the power needs," Stan told him. "I have no clue what this one is, but there's gotta be a different function. I mean, it even has a card reader built into it."

David looked to see Stan was right. The card reader remained. Then, David looked around, noticing the card he was holding earlier was gone. "Where'd that card go?"

"I have no clue," Stan said, looking around himself. "That…was too cool."

David just looked at it in consideration. He pressed the button on it a few times, noticing the display screen was shifting, but the panels were empty. "Here," David said, tossing it back to Stan. Stan caught it, and then gave David a confused expression. "This belongs to you."

"But you're the one partnered to V-mon," Stan said.

David looked at V-mon, who shrugged. "As much as I'd like to agree, that device belonged to you to begin with. For all I know, I was just the lucky guy that caught his interest and you were the one meant to be partnered to him."

Stan was about to argue against that point before the doorbell rang. David looked at him for a moment. Stan had a wide-eyed expression when he realized who it was. He got up and ran out of the room to the door. David didn't move, thinking it wasn't important, but he overheard the conversation in the other room. He thought he recognized the girl's voice. V-mon dove underneath the bed, figuring it would be best to hide. At that sound, David looked down and saw the lizard's tail sticking out from underneath the bed. The boy facepalmed at how ridiculous that looked.

When Stan led the new guest into the room, David looked surprised to see Jessa walk through the door. She stopped as soon as she entered the bedroom, looking just as surprised. "I didn't know you had a guest," Jessa said, not removing her line of sight from David.

"I just met David and V-mon today," Stan explained.

David tensed at Stan mentioning V-mon. The child digimon started scrambling out from under the bed when he heard his name.

"V-mon? You're kidding me." Jessa stared at the boy in disbelief, wondering what wild otaku fantasy Stan had cooked up.

"He's not," V-mon said as he picked himself off the ground, looking up at the teen girl.

The girl gawked at V-mon for a short while before she finally spoke. "Oh…my…god…he's so cute!" Jessa said before squeezing V-mon in a bear hug. His arms and legs flailed in the air as he was picked up off the ground, his face shoved into the girl's chest and his nose covered by the developing breasts.

Stan leaned over to David. "Is it sad that V-mon's getting more boobage than we'll ever get?" he asked.

David shrugged in response. To say he hadn't been curious about having a girlfriend or anything remotely intimate would be a lie, but he hadn't seriously considered or pursued it. He then turned his attention back towards Jessa and cleared his throat to get her attention. "Jessa, you may want to let him breathe," he warned her.

Jessa looked up with a sheepish look and dropped the reptilian digimon. V-mon landed on his feet, breathing hard. "I would've enjoyed that if I wasn't suffocating," the lizard remarked.

"Sorry, V-mon," Jessa apologized, then turned to Stan and asked, "So, were you doing something important? Do you still want to go out this evening?"

Stan stood up. "We can still go out this evening. We can take them along if they don't mind."

David held up his hands. "I'm not getting in the middle of a date here, am I? Because I have no problem leaving you alone."

Jessa couldn't help but giggle at David's reaction. "No, it's not that." she said. "Stan and I are just friends. We just hang out once in a while, mostly to get him out of the house."

Stan shook his head. "Really, David. Did you really think someone like me could land a girl like Jessa as a girlfriend?"

"Stranger things have happened," David said, jerking his thumb at V-mon as if proving his point.

"So, David. Want to come with us?" she offered.

"Sure, I don't have much to do and my father's almost never home, so it's not like I have plans," he replied.

"Man, that's enviable apathy," Stan looked at David with his eyes wide open.

"It's not all that it's cracked up to be," David told him, looking away from the two, not liking talking about home life much.

* * *

"So, where exactly are we going?" David asked as the three teens walked through the city's streets. He took a quick glance to see that V-mon was following them out of sight, crawling along the buildings above them.

"Well, can't stay out too late. Got work tomorrow, but I figured we'd run by the park today. Some guys are showing off some Parkour stunts there today," She spoke up. "Figured it's somewhere V-mon can join us."

"Parkour?" Stan asked. "What on earth is that?"

"Good question," David said, looking at the girl.

Jessa gave a thoughtful expression. "It's kinda hard to describe, so you're just gonna have to watch and see it." She smiled at the boys. "You'll enjoy this."

"You work at that Italian restaurant, right?" David asked. "I thought I saw you there awhile back."

"Yes, I do," Jessa said. "Thanks for the tip, by the way."

"Hey, you did a good job. That bitch had no business getting up in your face," he replied. "Though, think I won't return because of her."

"I probably wouldn't want anyone of my friends going there. My mother would chase them off anyway," she said, looking away for a moment, then back up as they approached the park.

When the three entered the park, they heard the tree nearby rustle harshly. David looked up to see V-mon having landed in the tree to stay hidden. "Sorry," V-mon said quietly. The boy waved it off as V-mon jumped from tree to tree to follow them.

When the trio came to a clearing they noticed what could only be described as a makeshift obstacle course. Several young men and women were going through them with various stunts, whether they were trying to clear large gaps or hurdle over large walls. Some of them were even using the trees to do backflips off of them.

"Wow," Stan said, as he looked on.

"Heh, you think that's impressive?" V-mon asked from above. "Give me a few minutes out there and I'll make them look pathetic."

"No, V-mon," David said. "Not now."

"Why not?" V-mon asked.

"I'd rather not find you used as a guinea pig in some government experiment," David told him. "Which will happen if you show yourself in public like this."

"Point," V-mon sulked, sitting on the branch he was hiding on.

"Hey, Jessa! See you brought a couple of guys from the reject brigade out," one of the freerunners said as he walked toward them.

Stan protested the reject label, but Jessa just looked at the young man. "Have problems with the people I choose to hang out with, Jared?" she asked.

David remembered the boy when Jessa mentioned his name, someone he had in a few classes himself. Jared was toned, seeing just enough muscle to do what he needs in this sport, where speed and strength are both crucial.

"Not really. I'm always glad to get more people into this. I'm actually more surprised that the lone wolf over here finally decided to join the pack," Jared nodded his head towards David at that.

"Well, the 'pack' hadn't exactly invited me in until now," David said with a shrug.

Jared just shook his head and smiled. "You just have to join. No invite necessary," he told him. "So like what you guys see so far?"

"It's impressive, if a bit showy," David said.

"That's half the point of it, to show off," Jared said.

"And what's the other?" David asked.

"Take a run through the city one day and you'll see," Jared told him. "So you guys want to try this out?"

"No way," Stan said. "I'd break something for sure."

"No problem. I can teach you. I taught a couple of these guys the basics. You'll be fine," Jared tried to convince Stan. "Besides, if you think it's cool watching this stuff, doing it is different."

"I'll consider taking you up on your offer," David said.

Jared looked at David. "Really?"

"Yeah, I'd like to explore more. You said you teach beginners. If I can get your number, I'll call you when I make my decision," David said.

"Sure, I'll get it to you in a while. For now just enjoy the show," Jared said running back into the mini-obstacle course.

* * *

After watching the various acrobatics of the freerunners, Jessa said she had to head home and get sleep before work the next morning. She ran off at this. Jared hung around for a short time after he left, talking more about what it was like doing the various stunts. However, even he had to run. Stan just looked around for a moment before offering to get something to eat.

"We better get something we can take home," David said, jerking his thumb up towards V-mon.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I even brought these so I could show you how to play," Stan said, showing David the device and cards from earlier.

"You brought those with us? Have you figured out what that device is anyway?" David asked.

"It's called a D-Arc," V-mon told them from his hiding spot. "I heard it's a device Tamers used to help empower their partner digimon. The cards could invoke modifications or even evolution through something called Card Slash and that device converts the card into the respective power."

David looked at the digimon. "How do you know about this?"

"Tamers kinda fell into legend in the digital world. Or infamy depending on who you spoke to," V-mon said. "I don't know the details, but Tamers can kind of give a digimon an unfair advantage in battle with that power."

"Why would we need to battle?" David asked.

The question went unanswered as several voices screamed in surprise as a thick mist started to form on the city block. Stan and David stood on guard, but David recognized this mist as what happened before V-mon showed up on his apartment's roof. "Again?" David asked.

"What do we do?" Stan asked, knowing something was not right.

"Hope like mad what comes out of there is friendly," David said. Then V-mon rushed into the mist. "V-mon! Wait!" He felt compelled to follow the blue lizard.

Stan followed immediately. The two boys had to push through a crowd running away from the mist as they looked for the child digimon and whatever came out of the middle of it.

When the crowd thinned out, the boys had to look around as the mist cleared. Stragglers spread throughout the block watched the scene unfold in front of them. V-mon stood in the middle of the street staring down something several times his size, and about twice the boys'. A green skinned humanoid creature stood in the middle with his mouth gaping open, showing off his teeth. A brown loin cloth covered his groins, but that was it as far as clothing. In one hand, it held a spiked club.

"An Ogremon!" Stan called out in surprise. At that, Ogremon swung his club down at the blue lizard. V-mon dove to the side to avoid getting hit, the impact of the club on the pavement left a crater in the asphalt. "And he's definitely not friendly!" The child digimon skidded across the asphalt on his feet as he came to a stop, widening the gap.

"That's right, keep your distance from him," David said as he watched.

"No good, he's got a ranged attack, too," Stan shot back.

David looked at Stan. "What?"

Purple energy started to form at Ogremon's fist before he swung at V-mon, the ball of energy shooting right at the lizard. V-mon jumped straight up, letting the attack hit the ground where he stood before. "My turn!" the lizard yelled as he landed, then shifted to charge at the Adult level digimon. "V-mon Head!" The child digimon launched head first straight at the giant ogre, landing the attack square into his abdomen with enough force to actually cause his larger foe to slide across the pavement without losing his footing.

"No good," David muttered as V-mon landed, jumping back immediately to avoid getting clubbed to death.

As V-mon tried to evade the larger opponent, Stan had taken out the D-Arc and started swiping one of his cards through it, repeatedly. David noticed this and asked, "What are you doing?"

"You heard what V-mon said. This thing is supposed to help us in battle," Stan told him. "And the damned thing isn't reacting."

"Is it broken?" David asked.

"It hasn't activated once since you gave it back to me this afternoon." Stan sighed. "So much for being a Tamer."

"Here, let me see it," David said, holding his hand out. Stan looked at him and reluctantly handed it over. The moment he handed it over to David, the screen activated, producing a projected holographic screen. The image was V-mon's view of Ogremon with all its stats, its level at Adult, its attributes, even its attacks. "And what am I supposed to do with this information?"

Ogremon suddenly turned around towards David, noticing the activated D-Arc in hand. "Tamer…" he growled. The boy took a step back from the look he got from the digimon. He didn't know why he suddenly got the enemy digimon's attention, but now he knew he had a target on his back.

Stan handed David a card. "Use this," Stan said. "It should help V-mon finish this guy off."

David grabbed the card and immediately slid it through, trying to get it to read in the D-Arc. Once he did, the device, still on its present displays, failed to react or change in any way. With Ogremon storming towards him, he had to figure out how to use this properly fast. He switched the card around and tried again, that failed, too.

David tripped and landed on his back as Ogremon was standing over him, raising his club to finish the boy off. "Don't think so!" V-mon said, slamming into the ogre head first and launching him towards the sidewalks and some bystanders. Most of them had scattered but as Ogremon landed, a girl started to scream. The ogre looked around for the source of the sound, hating the screeching noise in his ears. He finally found a girl lying on the ground, pinned underneath him. He looked at the girl with annoyance. He raised his arm, hand curled into a fist and intending to stop the sound once and for all.

"No!" David said, rushing towards the digimon, but Ogremon didn't pay any attention. With a hammer like strike, the screaming stopped, blood painting the concrete and walls red. David stopped in his tracks, looking at the reality of death more clear than ever. V-mon charged, jumping over a car and landing a flying kick to the ogre's head. David's anger at the disregard for life that Ogremon showed started to boil, tension tightened throughout his body. He gripped hard at both the D-Arc and the card in his hands.

"All right, you bastard! You're finished!" David started to slide the card through the D-Arc's card reader. "Card Slash!" David said, the sudden burst of frustration and anger flooding the D-Arc with energy. "Stingmon's Spiking Finish!" The D-Arc flashed a light that reached out to V-mon. On his arm, a bracer of some kind formed, extending a fuchsia energy spike.

Getting to his feet, Ogremon swung down at V-mon, only for the blue lizard to slice the club in two with the new beam weapon, causing it to disperse into data. At that, he lunged forward, aiming the spike right through his enemy's abdomen. He impaled the ogre's through his stomach and through his core, and out the other side. Ogremon stood, wide-eyed as he too dispersed into data. V-mon immediately absorbed it, adding the ogre's power to his own.

David and V-mon didn't have time to celebrate their victory. Stan had already ran to the girl Ogremon had hit, seeing the girl's body lying prone with her head completely caved in. Digimon and Tamer stopped right next to him. "Damn it," David cursed.

"Let's go. We're gonna be asked questions we're not going to be able to answer truthfully," Stan said.

David nodded as the boys fled with V-mon climbing to the buildings above them. "Let's go to your home," Stan said. "I really don't feel like answering to my folks right now."

"Sure," David said, not even looking towards Stan. He was just focused on getting away from the scene while he was lost in his thoughts over what happened.

* * *

"Thanks, David," Stan said as he set food on the table for dinner. David shrugged it off. He was just trying to focus on something else instead of the battle that just occurred.

In the background, the TV set was going. David had set it to the news channel, seeing if there would be any coverage of the battle. The last thing he needed to be was reminded of what happened, but he also didn't want his face plastered all over the media.

"David, it wasn't your fault," Stan said. "There was nothing anyone could've done."

"I could've acted faster. I could've figured out that Card Slash ability sooner. I could've accepted the D-Arc in the first place and not waste everyone's time," David started listing off faults.

"Don't get started with that. You did well. Sure, that girl had died, but if you hadn't finished him off then more people would be dead. Hell, we'd be dead," Stan told him. "Don't you dare forget about that."

David shook his head. "At least one of us has faith in me," he said.

"Make that two," V-mon said. "You're my Tamer, David."

David sighed. "I remember something. Ogremon didn't start going after me until I held the D-Arc and it activated. Why?"

"Because we both sensed my link to you. He knew you were my Tamer. Until then, he didn't know I even had one and was focused on killing me," the child digimon explained.

"And why was he trying to kill you?" the Tamer asked.

"Because I was the only digimon in the area?" V-mon suggested. "Besides that, I have no clue, but once you were recognized as my Tamer, I became more of a threat to him. He had to get rid of you. On top of that, he may have hated Tamers."

"Relax, David. We're safe now. Just enjoy the evening," Stan told him. "Besides, I'm yet to teach you that game."

"You're persistent on that," David said annoyed.

"Well, you should learn strategy if you're going to be a Tamer now," Stan suggested.

David sighed, no argument against it. While the boys enjoyed dinner, the news started. While no one in the room paid attention, the anchorwoman went on about a terrorist attack in town, showing footage of the wreckage from their battle and reporting only one death. Since no mention of the word 'monster' was uttered, none of the boys even thought to listen or watch, ignorant of the cover up happening behind their backs.


	3. On the Run

David rushed through the city streets, sprinting as if his life depended on it. He looked down at the D-Arc, making sure he was following where the compass was leading him. He had to dodge and weave through people but eventually found an alleyway that would lead him straight to where he needed to be. V-mon seemed to know as he rushed ahead down the alleyway, following along the rooftops and ledges on the buildings above him.

David eventually came up to a brick wall, towering over him at ten feet tall. "Damn it!" David shouted, looking around for another shortcut.

"David?" V-mon asked, looking down at his Tamer.

"Keep going! I'll find a way around!" David told him. V-mon nodded and ran ahead. He was forced to run back towards the entrance of the alley and run around the corner of the next main street. He had to duck between lots of people, but eventually found where the rest of the alley continued.

David ducked into the alleyway, free of people traveling its passage. He continued to sprint down, rounding a corner and coming out to the devastation he expected awhile back. He saw V-mon land on top of a car at the alley's exit in front of him, just before diving off as a ball of electricity slammed into it, causing the car to erupt in an explosion. David stopped at that, looking up for the new opponent.

David looked at the D-Arc as it finally displayed the insectoid digimon with four arms and two legs. The head looked like one giant mouth with the rest of the head covered by an exoskeleton helmet. Four insect wings flapped rapidly behind. "Kabuterimon," the boy muttered. "Looks like the bugs want to get revenge on us for bug zappers."

David reached for a card sitting in a belt-mounted deck holder, an accessory Stan suggested. If it weren't for the reality he was facing right now, he would have waved it off. He just grabbed a card and started to swipe it through the D-Arc. "Card Slash! Aero Wing!" David called out as he slid the card the rest of the way through. At that, a pair of blue wings sprouted from V-mon's back. V-mon spread them and took flight as another electric ball hit the ground beneath him.

"There, at least the playing field is level," David said aloud, watching V-mon evade more attacks from the giant insect. He tried to remember what Stan told him that took down insects, but it was drawing a blank. "Of all the times to have a brain fart," he berated himself. He just picked a card from the deck and looked at it. "Guess we're just gonna have to overpower it somehow."

The next electric attack, V-mon propelled up in evasion and looped around back at Kabuterimon, trying to dive down on the oversized bug. "Card Slash!" David called out as he slid his card through the D-Arc. "Grapple Chip!" V-mon's dive seemed to increase in speed, hitting Kabuterimon head first with a power even V-mon didn't know he was capable off. The insectoid was launched down into the ground hard, keeping it down.

"V-mon! Dive bomb him again! Aim for his core!" David called out as he took out a third card. He slid the new card through, once again calling on the Card Slash power. "Iron Drill!" While V-mon was in full dive, a drill formed on his head, before it started spinning. Kabuterimon, finding it difficult to pick himself up, shrieked in horror when it saw the drill aiming down for it. The lizard pierced right through the adult level digimon, only stopping when he hit the asphalt below. Kabuterimon burst into data as the Child digimon that defeated him absorbed it. Both the wings and the drill vanished as the power expired.

David rushed towards V-mon, only to stop when something caught his eye inside one of the destroyed cars. David turned to see the charred remains of a person trapped within, burned in the explosion Kabuterimon caused.

"I'm sorry," V-mon said as he walked up to David. "I…tried to protect them, to warn them, but I couldn't."

"If I had been here sooner, this wouldn't have happened, would it?" David asked, continuing to survey the scene around them. There were injuries from burns in the area and debris all over the place. The deaths were limited, but casualties appeared to be numerous.

"I don't know," the child digimon answered. "Maybe."

David didn't say a word. He turned away back down the alley he came in. It had been a couple of weeks since Ogremon realized. Having gone through this before didn't make it any easier the second time. All the boy knew was that he had to find a way to make it to the battlefield quicker if that meant saving more.

David took out a business card in his pocket with a phone number scribbled on it. He cursed his lack of a cell phone, looking around for any of the few payphones that still exist in the city. "V-mon, why don't you explore the city more? Get to know the place better. Just come back home this evening."

V-mon looked at his Tamer, "David, are you okay?" he asked.

David sighed. "I'm fine. I just need to blow off some steam."

V-mon shook his head before he climbed up the building next to them. David didn't pay much attention as he found a payphone and started reaching in his pocket for some change. Finally pulling out a quarter and dime, David dumped them in and dialed the number on his card, waiting for someone to pick up. After a moment of silence, listening to the phone ring, he finally said, "Hello, Jared? It's David. I've decided to take you up on your offer."

* * *

Blue Card Diaries  
Entry 03: On the Run  
Author: Izumi Ryu  
Tamers Diaries Concept: Lord Archive  
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to TOEI animation.

* * *

Stan opened the door, looking down at the child-level digimon standing there. "Hi, Stan," V-mon greeted the boy. Upon seeing the lizard, the boy let him in, trying to hide him from the public. V-mon just sat down on the sofa as Stan stood across from him.

"Where's David?" Stan asked.

"David…said he was going out for a run," V-mon told him with a shrug. "In reality, I don't know. "

Stan cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'in reality'?" he pressed.

V-mon stood up. "He never went on runs before the battle with Kabuterimon. I have no clue what he's really doing."

"That was a couple of weeks ago, wasn't it?" Stan asked, still not happy with the two about not taking him with them. V-mon nodded. "And how long is he usually gone?"

"Most of the day. I mean he comes home and we still spend time together, but his mind is elsewhere," the lizard explained.

Stan shook his head. He should've noticed this, having spent time with David almost daily since they've met. The only friction was when David yelled at Stan after he gave the Tamer a hard time about leaving him out of the last battle. He should've known something was wrong then, but all he did was back off and left the matter as it was.

Stan took out a cell phone and after tapping the screen a couple of times, waited for someone to pick up. "What are you doing? " the lizard asked.

"Hi, Jessa. Think you can meet V-mon and I at David's apartment? We're on our way there," Stan suggested. There was silence before he asked. "You need to know where it is?" The boy remained silent before relaying the address to her. Then his eyes went wide. "You live in the same building? How come I… Never mind. I forgot about your family. I'll see you there in a few minutes."

Stan hung up the phone and looked at V-mon. "Think you can let us into the apartment? If we're going to find out what's wrong with David and what he's doing, we all need to confront him."

"I think so. I mean opening the door seems easy enough," V-mon shrugged.

* * *

The apartment door opened to the sight of Jessa, Stan and V-mon sitting around the room. Both humans looked intently at the person that came in the door. David had a confused expression as he saw the current occupants of his home. "How did you guys get in?"

"It took V-mon ten minutes to figure out how to unlock the door," Stan said as he glanced at the digimon.

V-mon threw his arms in the air. "Give me a break! I come and go through a window all the time!"

"Hey, David. What's wrong?" another voice spoke up from behind. Jared walked up from behind David and stopped right behind them.

"Jared? What happened to you two?" Jessa asked.

Both David and Jared not only appeared sweaty from whatever they had been doing for the past few hours, both of them appeared to be bruised up a bit. "Long story," David said.

"Does it have to do with what you've been doing for the past couple of weeks?" V-mon asked accusingly.

"Is that…what I think it is?" Jared gawked at V-mon out of surprise.

"Shit," David cursed under his breath, having forgotten that Jared never met V-mon yet.

"David, what have you been keeping me out of?" Jared asked him accusingly.

"And us," Stan spoke up.

David sighed. "This is gonna be a long explanation for both parties involved. Can we order a pizza first or something?" The boy hoped the delay while he placed the order would help him organize the explanation in a way to benefit everyone. "Jared, this is V-mon. A friend and my digimon partner."

"Good to meet you, all things considered," Jared said to V-mon.

"Same here," V-mon told him.

David got an agreement on the pizza and placed the order. While waiting for it, the group sat around the dinner table, everyone looking intently at David. David wanted to hide. "After the battle with Kabuterimon, I needed to come up with something to help me get to the battlefield faster. The people that died there, they died because I couldn't get there fast enough."

"You've gotta quit blaming yourself for that stuff. You can't do anything about it," Stan told him.

"What if there was something?" David asked seriously. Stan sank back at that question, not sure how to answer.

"Wait, if there were digimon battles here, why haven't I heard about them all over the media?" Jared asked.

"No clue," David shrugged. "I'm concerned with having my face show up on the 5 o'clock News, but it hasn't so far."

"Enough sidetracking," Jessa told them. "What have you been doing and what happened to you today?"

"Well, that's…a little easier to answer. I needed a means to reach the battlefield quicker, and I remembered Jared offering to teach Parkour to me. I decided to take him up on his offer," David explained.

* * *

David rolled as he hit the pads, breaking the fall after botching another attempt at a climb. He stood up, looking ready to go at it again, looking at the wall in front of him, towering over him and leading to a raised platform above. Then he bolted for the wall. Within a couple of steps, he planted his toes towards the wall and made a couple of steps before reaching up for the top of the wall. The boy hung there, trying to climb up. He eventually muscled his way up, pulling himself by the arms, and rolled onto the raised platform.

Jared watched from some distance away within the gym, filled with various rails and platforms for training. Watching someone get so much into Parkour always gave the veteran some level of pride, but something didn't feel right about David. For the past couple of weeks, he had been practicing like a man possessed.

David jumped off the platform and landed the ten-foot drop bending his knees before rolling on the ground to burn off momentum. He looked around and saw Jared watching. He nodded and walked over to his teacher, a friend, the boy had to remind himself.

"So, what's wrong, David?" Jared asked.

"What do you mean?" David asked in reply, looking at Jared suspiciously.

"It's one thing to train hard, but you've been trying to burn yourself out these last couple of weeks," Jared accused. "What's going on that has you so worked up?"

David didn't want to tell Jared the truth. The young man wouldn't believe him. David asked, "Jared, have you ever failed after trying everything you could to your abilities? That despite doing everything you can, you felt like you should have done more?"

"That's the nature of learning anything," Jared told him. "You're supposed to keep trying until you figure it out."

David sighed. "And what if there are no second chances?"

"That's the whole point of parkour. You could completely botch one thing, but you don't have time to think about how you failed it. You can only focus on what's in front of you," Jared explained. "If there's nothing you can do about it, why worry?"

David wanted to kick himself. He knew that answer already. The problem wasn't whether he knew what to do, it was doing it. That's one of the things Jared had been trying to teach him the entire time. Probably not intentionally, but that was the whole point of it all. If he wanted to help others, he had to do everything in his power to do so. And if he couldn't do it, then add to that power.

"Come on," Jared told him. "I was debating making you take the day off today, but I think I need to go a different path with you." Jared led the boy down the stairs from the gym, leading the boy out of the building.

"So, what's that? We're not training in the gym?" David asked, as he walked out on the entryway with concrete stairs leading off to the left. The railing wrapped around the outside of the concrete slab, but blocked anyone that wanted to get off by moving the other direction.

"No," Jared said. "You're going to dive right into the real thing. You have one simple objective." Jared looked at David with a smirk. "Catch me if you can."

Without warning, Jared grabbed onto the railing and vaulted over it, landing from the 3-foot drop with a slight bend in the knees, he bolted down the alley.

"Hey!" David protested before following suit. When he vaulted over the railing, he kicked his legs out to the side and dropped himself and landed on the pavement below. He started sprinting in the direction Jared had left, trying to keep his teacher in his sights.

Jared rounded a corner closely followed by David, finding a parking lot with a car right in front of him. Without missing a beat, Jared jumped up and over the car's hood, leaning forward in the air. He reached down for the hood with one hand, using it to propel him forward and clear the hood, landing on the other side of the car and continuing his sprint.

David saw the stunt and didn't even think when he followed suit, his hand planting on the hood to help him across as he vaulted over the car hood.

He barely had time to register what he had just done as he saw Jared rushing towards the rear of a single story building, seeing Jared jump and kick on the wall as he climbed up and grabbed the roof.

David jumped up next to him, his feet kicking the wall as he propelled up and hung on the edge of the roof next to Jared, both of them hanging with their feet planted against the wall. "Caught ya," David said.

"Is that a fact?" Jared asked as he swung his feet around and rolled onto the roof. David pulled the same move to climb up and as he got up on the roof, tried to reach for Jared, but the Parkour veteran was already out of his reach.

David gave chase across the roof, jumping across generators and pulling balancing acts across beams. As Jared reached the end, he jumped down off the building. He landed in a crouch and rolled along the ground. As Jared got up, he felt someone grab him by the arm and throw him against the wall, pinning him against it with an arm held across his chest. "So, what's a running pansy like you doing now?" JR asked.

"You know the track team would probably do anything for us if we beat the crap out of you. Maybe even a bonus if we break your legs," Evan told him.

"Look out below!" David shouted as he jumped off the building, causing JR and Evan to scatter and free Jared. _Crap, those guys again_, he thought, nearly blowing the landing when he recognized the boys he met before. He recovered and rolled on the ground to use the last of his momentum, before getting up. David looked at Jared who seem distressed, only to be punched in the gut by the third member of the boys' entourage.

David doubled over as he stepped away. He looked up in annoyance at Adam, the senior high student glaring at him in contempt. "That's not even a tenth of what you deserve for the embarrassment you caused us last time."

"Get over yourselves," David spat back, not certain where this assertiveness came from. Adam and his cronies just simply didn't seem as intimidating as before. That didn't change how much fear David had for these guys as he would still get beaten up badly in a fight.

As if to prove that point, Adam grabbed David by the head and brought it down as fast and hard as possible. Face and forehead met Adam's knee hard. He stepped back even further, clutching at his forehead, trying to restore his vision.

"David! Run!" he heard Jared yell, before someone, either JR or Evan, hit him and told him to shut up.

David's vision cleared. The last time he escaped these guys, V-mon was the one that helped him out. Of course, the digimon wasn't here , only meaning he had to get out of this scenario somehow or another. He had to get Jared out, too. He couldn't leave him to these guys.

David sprinted for the same wall Jared was pinned against. He kicked up onto the wall and grabbed onto the window ledge from the second story.

"That's right, you coward. Run and abandon him. Everyone knows he deserves it," Adam taunted.

"Who said I was running?" David asked, looking down at JR and Evan. He let go of the ledge and kicked off the wall, starting to fall towards Adam's cronies. The two dove away from Jared and out of the way as David landed on the pavement. "C'mon!" he told Jared, getting him to climb back up the way they came, rolling onto the roof of the single story building and running across it as they got up on their feet.

"You two can't run forever!" Adam yelled.

"Wanna bet?" David remarked, well out of Adam's hearing range at this point. Jared smirked at his response. However, he knew the bully was right. One of these days, he was going to have to face the senior high student. Today, wasn't that day, but David knew he'd have to prepare for the eventuality.

"Well, that wasn't what I had in mind," Jared remarked as he came to a stop, sure no one was going to bother him anymore. "You okay?"

"I'll manage somehow," David told him, waving it off.

* * *

"After taking a breather from that encounter, we just decided it was best to let it go. We continued our run for a few more hours, Jared leading me through the city on a chase," David told them, then he turned to Jared. "You never told me what the point of that was."

Jared looked at his student seriously. "Did you enjoy it? I mean other than the run-in we had." He was answered with a nod. "That's all that mattered. If you can't, then there's no point."

"It's true," Stan spoke up. "It can't all be about work."

"Yeah, I get it," David sighed. "There's just too much on the line for me to let up, even a little. It's not like there's another Tamer anywhere near here or they'd have shown up by now."

Jessa, Stan and Jared all looked at each other uncomfortably. "What?" David asked, unsettled by the air in the room all of a sudden.

"David, how long have you lived here?" Jessa asked.

"A little over four years now. Why?" David didn't break his stare at Jessa.

"That would make sense then," Jessa said. "We may know of another Tamer."

David stood up, frustration apparent in his face. "What? Where are they?" he demanded. "Why haven't they shown up? And why tell me now?"

"We don't know. She vanished five years ago," Stan spoke up. David looked at him but sat down as he calmed down. "She had this strange dog with her, too. Kind of like an oversized Doberman. In fact… " Stan pulled out a deck of cards. Stan took a card and put it flat out on the table for everyone to see. "It looked exactly like this."

David looked down at the card labeled 'Dobermon'. He wanted to know if Stan was joking, but the look Stan gave told him he was serious.

"I remember that dog, too," Jared said. "Scared the shit outta me when I saw him. I was kinda glad it disappeared too."

"Her name was Alice McCoy," Jessa continued. "She was a year or two ahead of us, but some of us knew from around here. She's been presumed dead, but considering what's happened lately…" Jessa looked at V-mon at this. "…she may still be alive. She could be wherever V-mon came from."

"I doubt she's alive if she is," V-mon told them, earning strange looks from the humans around him. "Never mind," the digimon sighed, trying to avoid explaining what he meant.

David looked around at everyone. "Is there any way we can find her? Someone that knows her?" he asked.

"No one has ever been able to contact her family since her disappearance," Jessa said. "Even if we could, they probably wouldn't talk about her."

"There's always Brad," Stan suggested with shrug.

"Oh, no way. We're not going near that weirdo," Jared shook his head.

"Come on, Jared. David needs help. We can't give him the help another Tamer can, especially one as experienced as Alice," Stan pleaded.

David wanted this headache to end. "Okay, I'm sorry for being the dumbest guy in this room, but who's Brad?"

"He's someone from Alice's class," Jessa spoke up. "He had an obsessive crush on her and believed her to be alive, even now. If he actually knew she was alive, maybe he knows something we don't."

"That very same obsession is why he gets picked on, too. Besides, he creeps me out," Jared told him.

"You don't have to go." Stan looked at Jared seriously. "Jessa, David, and I can go to his place."

"Not today, Stan," Jessa said. "I'd feel more comfortable talking with Brad when we have numbers anyway. I should have a day off coming up soon we can go."

"Fine." Jared sighed in defeat. "I'll go, too. Just don't say I didn't warn you when he goes psycho killer on us."

David didn't know what to feel about what was going on. The way Jared resisted, he had a feeling he had to keep his guard up around Brad. He couldn't lose focus now, though. He had to follow what leads he could to find anything that could help, even if they couldn't find Alice.

As the pizza arrived, the discussions of the evening turned a little more relaxed. Everyone spread around the living room, enjoying the pizza. Stan had broken into the game system and beat up on everyone at what little games David had. Jared was the first to leave, needing to shower, as tired as he was. Jessa left next, using work as her excuse. Much to his surprise, Stan asked if he could stay the night. David agreed, glad for the company at least.


	4. Devil in the Shadows

Jessa ignored her mother's ranting as she slammed the door closed to her apartment. She didn't have time to waste, wanting to meet David and go with him to Brad's with the others. She rounded the corner once she reached the next floor down, finding David's apartment. As the girl knocked on the door, David almost immediately answered the door.

"Hi, Jessa. I'm ready." David stepped out and closed and locked the door behind them. V-mon had already left out the window, but told him he'd remain close in case Brad did anything. He looked at his friend's annoyed expression. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine, another argument with Mom," Jessa told him, reaching the next flight of stairs going down.

"Should I ask what the problem is now?" David asked, looking over at her.

"It's best you don't get involved," the girl told him. "It's not anyone's place."

"You know I'm just downstairs if you need to get away," the Tamer offered. "I'm not gonna do anything to you. Stan's been staying over more often."

"Thanks," she replied with a sad smile. "You don't have to really. It'll just make it easier for her to find me."

"The offer is still there," David said as they left the apartment building.

David's D-Arc blipped to life. He reached for it and showed the compass pointing in the opposite direction they were about to leave. "Shit. Not now," the Tamer cursed.

"David!" V-mon called from the rooftops.

"I'm coming! Go!" David shouted back, before turning back to Jessa. "Stay here, I'll be back."

"You better," Jessa told him, her expression serious. "I don't want you dying on me adding to my already bad day."

David rushed down the streets again, glancing down at his D-Arc again. Thankfully, this digimon was close by. However, he earned strange looks as he hurdled over short brick wall and various other obstacles, trying to remain unobstructed before he reached his goal. David rounded a corner and came to a fog bank that had formed not long ago. V-mon landed next to David from where he was travelling, unnoticed by the people more focused on the strange mist.

"David," V-mon told him.

"I know." David grabbed onto his D-Arc and reached for a card in the deck box, his heart beating faster as he waited for the digimon to come out. With the people around him, it put more pressure to put this digimon down immediately.

Both waited patiently as time passed, this fog not showing signs of dissipating anytime soon. Visibility started to slowly improve when it finally started to dissipate. But when the fog bank fully cleared, nothing out of the ordinary appeared. Cars drove by as if nothing happened and the people that stopped to watch ran off.

"What?" David asked. He looked at his D-Arc, which didn't react at all. "Where did it go?"

"I have no clue. It didn't go back," V-mon said as he looked around, expecting an ambush at any moment. As a couple of more minutes passed, it was obvious nothing was happening.

David sighed in frustration. "Nothing we can do about it. If it's still here, it's obviously not causing problems."

"Yeah," V-mon said, unsure of that logic. He kept his guard up anyway.

"We better meet the others," David told him. "If I don't go, the whole point of talking to Brad is moot." The boy walked back towards home, uneasiness showing in his eyes as he walked back the way he came.

V-mon nodded as he jumped back up onto the building, climbing along its ledges and following David back.

* * *

Blue Card Diaries  
Entry 04: Devil in the Shadows  
Author: Izumi Ryu  
Tamers Diaries Concept: Lord Archive  
Disclaimer: While this story is my work, the Digimon franchise is owned by Toei Animation. This story was written for no monetary gain.

* * *

"What took you guys so long?" Stan asked, standing next to Jared in front of an apartment. Jessa and David walked up to them.

"Another digimon," David said with a sigh.

"Again?" Jared asked, annoyance showing in his tone. "You know that's going to be an annoyance once school starts."

"We'll burn that bridge when we get there," Jessa told them.

"So, how did it go this time?" Stan asked.

"It didn't," David shrugged, earning strange glances from his friends. "When the fog cleared, there was nothing there. My D-Arc had picked up a signal before, but when I checked after the field cleared, it was gone."

"Did it go back?" Jessa asked, some hope showing in her tone.

"I don't know. V-mon thinks it didn't," David explained. "If it shows up again, we'll deal with it. Now, we need to see what this guy knows."

"Does he know we're coming?" Stan asked.

David looked up to a third story window at that moment, feeling as if they were being watched. He caught sight of a curtain being closed. "If he didn't know before, he does now. Think we better head on up?"

The teens looked at each other before nodding, unsure about whether to question him now. David was the first to move to the front door, the others following close behind. When, David was looking for the buzzer leading to Brad's house, the door opened.

"What do you guys want?" the older boy asked. What David saw was someone that had 'goth' written all over him. He had dyed black hair and even lipstick. His skin was pale from being inside all of the time. Even his clothes, while appearing casual, was completely black. If David hadn't been told he was in senior high, David would've thought they were the same age as he appeared to be about the same height.

David cleared his throat. "Hello, Brad. We came to ask you a few questions."

"I don't feel like answering anything, then," Brad told them, looking at them in contempt before trying to close the door.

"Even if it's about Alice?" Jessa asked.

Brad froze before he fully closed it. Then, he looked slowly opened the door, looking at the younger teens once again. "What about her?"

"She vanished years ago. You're the only one that thought she's alive still," Stan spoke up. "Even after that, people would have given up on her as dead, but you know something, don't you? You know where she really is."

Brad chuckled at this. "One problem with that. Even if I knew where she was, why the Hell would I tell any of you?"

Jared would've stepped up and smacked Brad if the others weren't between them. "Oh, get off your high and mighty horse! We're asking for your help!"

"And I'm not gonna give it to you. None of you have any right to anything. Especially you, who abandoned the very people that needed you for your own personal fun," the goth told him. "Your folks are disappointed in you and the track team wants your damned head. Personally, I think that's too good for you."

Jared stepped back, surprised at how much this guy knew.

"Okay, now you're going too far," Stan said, trying to push his way past Jessa and David.

"And you wouldn't have the guts to say that if it weren't for the others around you," Brad belittled the boy. "You can't even stand up for yourself. Maybe you were over-coddled by your parents. Doesn't matter. Until you stop letting your so-called friends fight your battles, you're not worth my time."

Stan stopped his struggling, staring into space as if Brad hit a sore spot. Jessa saw this and turned to glare at Brad, but he didn't look phased at all. In fact, he just smirked knowing he even had her where she wanted him. "Be glad you have a family, as fucked up as it is, little girl. You may hate the choices they're forcing on you, but they are looking out for your well-being. You don't appreciate that at all, don't you? Well, I'd hate to see what happens if you went against them."

Jessa's glare turned into a stare in pure fear. How this boy knew things she never told anyone outside of the people there was beyond her.

"What are you? Some kind of creepy stalker?" David asked. "I only found out about you a few days ago and now I know why people hate your guts."

"You know, the funny thing about you approaching me about Alice, none of them believed me until the digimon started to come into this world," Brad said. "Then again, that's no fault of yours, Tamer."

Something snapped in David the moment Brad said that. David placed a hand on the door and shoved it open. "That's it, you're telling me everything I need to know, now. If you know I'm a Tamer, then you know I need Alice's help more than anything right now."

Brad never flinched, not intimidated by David's approached. "And you don't deserve it. As bad as these people are, you're the biggest scumbag of them all."

"What did you just call me?" David spat out.

"If you were even half a Tamer, there would not be a single injury, a single death. No, you let those people die, too concerned with your pathetic ass. Lives that would be far better than yours were ended because you failed," Brad berated him.

David stepped back, his hand dropping from its position on the door.

"By the way, I think you have a rogue digimon to look for. You should find it. I hope it kills you." With that, Brad slammed the door in David's face, leaving the group dumbfounded about what just happened.

Brad walked back toward the stairwell leading to his apartment with a smile on his face. He took pleasure in seeing David and the others suffering. Then, he picked out something he kept hidden from the view of David, a pure black D-Arc with a compass pointing out the direction of a digimon. "It's your turn," he said to no one in particular. "Torment them."

* * *

V-mon stood squatted on the edge of one of the apartments, watching the cars pass by down below. He looked around, having a feeling that he was being watched, and most likely by the digimon that emerged this morning. Why it was watching was beyond him, but he tried to shove that question to the rear of his mind.

"Hey!" a voice called out. V-mon turned to look at the source of the voice, an adult man in a maintenance uniform. He held several tools in belts around him, and was ready to grab one of them to hit V-mon with. "What…are you?"

"Calm down, I'm not going to harm you," V-mon said, holding his hands up while slowly walking towards him.

"But I am," a third voice said, followed by maniacal laughter. V-mon didn't have time to turn around as he was hit from the back, knocking him unconscious and left on the roof.

"No! No! Stay away from me!" the man shouted, throwing the wrench he grabbed at the new threat.

"As you wish," the newcomer said before hitting the man with a black beam, the man hit the ground as soon as the shock stopped, falling out of consciousness and into a hellscape. Dead trees surrounded him. A mix of skeletal remains and fresh corpses littered the forest, some of the corpses impaled in the trees themselves. The man looked as he saw several beings surrounding the hellspawn he saw earlier. They looked like grotesque zombies to him. One of them looked at him and moaned something unintelligible.

"Get away from me!" the man shouted in fear as he backed up. That was his mistake, attracting the attention of the others. The creature looked at him in confusion while the zombies walked toward him slowly, each moaning as they approached. "I said get back!" the man told them, walking backwards slowly, before he felt his foot hit something.

The man's arms circled back as he started to fall, seeing nothing but a sharp dive down a rocky cliff. He was already too far gone to be saved as he saw some of the zombies suddenly running for him. It was either zombies or the plummet to his death. He'd rather fall. He finally lost his footing, falling backwards towards a rocky death.

* * *

Except for a general consensus to get lunch, nothing was said among the group. Even while they sat at the same table eating, not a single word crossed their lips to each other. As the group finished their lunch, David finally decided to break the silence. "Okay, what the Hell just happened back there?" he finally asked.

"I'm not sure," Stan said. "How the Hell does Brad know so much about us?"

"He's a loner," Jared said. "People ignore him unless they want to torment him, but he pays attention to the world around him."

"Not that much," David said. "He'd have to have been stalking us at different points. I'm sure if he found out about V-mon, I was a particular subject of interest for him."

"We shouldn't let what he said get to us," Jessa said, particularly disturbed. "We can't do anything about him unless he acts anyway. How are we going to find Alice? Our only lead won't tell us anything."

"We can't. I'll just have to live without help until something else comes up," David glanced over at the others. "We better go find V-mon. See if he found anything on the realized digimon."

The others nodded, but the numb emotion was evident among the group. Brad had effectively disarmed the entire group with nothing more than his words. David thought it was no wonder why Brad was picked on. The bastard deserved it.

As the group of teens left the restaurant, David took out his D-Arc and switched it to the compass. He looked around as it led him around. He looked up at the various buildings and back down it, noticing the compass kept pointing at one apartment in particular.

David nodded towards the alleyway so that the others knew where he planned to meet his partner. When they got into the abandoned alley, David finally called for his digimon, looking up at the building. He waited a couple of moments with no response. He looked down at the D-Arc for confirmation that he was still there.

Without warning, David bolted back the way they came from, pushing past his friends. Worry showed in his eyes that the digimon hadn't responded. Obviously V-mon was still alive, but he couldn't figure out why he wouldn't respond. He rounded the corner onto the sidewalks and around to the apartment's entrance. Not even thinking about why the complex was unlocked, the boy rushed into the building and up the stairs. He skipped one or two at a time each step, rounding several flights as he climbed to each floor. Each flight of stairs felt longer than the last.

Eventually, David busted a door wide open that led out onto the apartment's roof. He looked around and saw V-mon lying face first on the roof, not moving. "V-mon!" David called out as he rushed to his partner's side. The boy placed a hand on the lizard's shoulder, trying to shake him awake.

"Is he okay?" Jessa asked, the next to reach the roof.

"I hope so," David told her, continuing to shake his partner awake.

The lizard finally moaned and stirred, his eyes opening up. "What hit me?" he asked.

"That's what I was hoping you'd tell us," David answered.

Stan eventually joining Jessa and David as V-mon got up on his feet. Jared looked around and saw the man standing, staring into space, his mouth gaping. "Hey, are you okay, sir?" Jared asked, slowly approaching him as not to startle him.

"Get away from me!" the man yelled, surprising Jared in the process.

David, Jessa, Stan and V-mon suddenly looked at the man, who started walking slowly back. "Sir, it's okay. Nothing's gonna happen," Jessa told him slowly starting to approach him.

"I said get back!" he reiterated, continuing his slow walk backwards. Stan and David had slowly spread away, the four kids surrounding him and trying to calm him down.

"Come on, sir," Stan finally said. "You're fine. Nothing here will harm you."

David started to worry. At this point, he was wondering if he was seriously afraid of V-mon. Maybe seeing them rush to the Digimon's aid added more to his phobia. Then, he noticed just how close to the edge of the roof the maintenance worker was. Part of the boy thought to let him go, but mentally slapped himself for even considering it. "Sir, if you don't stop now, you're gonna fall off the building!"

At that, the man's foot finally hit the brick marking the edge of the building. He began to lose his balance, waving his arms to try and keep it. The boys charged forward, looking to grab the man before he fell. David reached for his arm, but the man kept it away from him, opting to fall off than let himself be saved.

The man finally fell backwards over the edge. A crowd of people screamed in horror when the man's body hit the sidewalk below, lying prone and motionless on the ground.

David, Stan and Jared had watched the man fall, helpless to do anything to stop him. "Damn it," David muttered as he got up, looking back at Jessa.

"David…" Jessa said, trying to get him out of his mood.

"Some fucking hero I am," David said, before storming towards the door leading to the stairwell. David didn't stop for any of his friends calling for him, slamming the door behind him. David just rushed down as fast as he could downstairs without killing himself.

Brad smiled as he watched the scene unfold from his own apartment window, next to the building David's friends were now standing. Next to the high schooler stood a creature that looked like a scrawny imp, his head and wings looked disproportionately large compared to the rest of the body. His demented smile dwarfed everything else about him. You could almost mistake the creature for one of the witch's minions from the Wizard of Oz.

"Nice touch, Evilmon," Brad congratulated.

"I hoped you approved. I'm impressed with you. You know how to manipulate the heart and mind of people in ways my power cannot," Evilmon told him.

"All it takes is a little information," Brad explained. "Nothing more." Brad held up his black D-Arc to show Evilmon. "So, I take it you approve of our partnership?"

"Yes, as long as you don't intend to take that Tamer's job," Evilmon agreed.

"Fuck that. The world can burn for all I care," Brad told him.

"Then we'll make a very good team." The demon digimon laughed maniacally. As cheesy as it was, the goth boy couldn't help but smile. This was true power, and he had intended to exercise it for a very long time.

* * *

David plopped down on his bed with the sun still setting. He took his pillows and buried his head underneath them. His frustrations apparent, but he wanted nothing to do with the world around him anymore. Too many people were dying because of him. Brad may have been an asshole, but he was right.

David didn't even flinch when he felt something jump on top of him. He lazily lifted his head to look out from underneath them. "V-mon, not now," David growled.

At that V-mon ripped the pillows out of David's grip and threw them off to the side. Then, he flipped the boy around and pinned him down on the bed face up. It was a reminder to the Tamer that despite how small the digimon was, he was strong beyond belief.

V-mon glared down at his partner. "When are you going to get over yourself?" the digimon demanded. "You know that was not your fault."

"If I acted faster," David started.

"Damn it, David. The man was hallucinating. He would've reacted the same way no matter how fast you acted," the digimon spat back.

"Hallucinating?" David asked in confusion. "How?"

"Whoever knocked me out did it I guess. I was told by your friends to let you know that man is still alive. Unable to walk even if they let him out of the straightjacket, but alive," V-mon explained.

The lizard finally stood up and got off of his Tamer, allowing him to sit up. "I'm guessing our mystery emergence and the guy that did all this is one and the same."

"That's what I guess. We have to be careful. These types of digimon can be deadlier than the ones that rampage," the digimon answered.

"Sorry, V-mon. This is just starting to be too much," David told him.

"Well, that's what we're here for," V-mon said. "Sure, we couldn't find this other Tamer, but you can do this. Just keep pushing." The lizard walked out the door. "Now, open the door. The others are waiting on you."

"Others?" David asked.

"Yeah. They brought pizza, too. And it's getting cold," V-mon prodded.

David got up and went for the apartment's front door. He only stopped for a minute to look at V-mon. "Thanks for dealing with me. I'm sure there are far better Tamers than me out there."

V-mon looked up with a smile. "I wouldn't have had it any other way."


End file.
